The cooperative "mining" contract was deemed invalid, and the court rejected the plaintiff's claim for 570,000 yuan in investment.

According to a report by The Paper's official WeChat account, the Guiyang County People's Court concluded a case involving a cryptocurrency "mining" contract dispute, ruling to dismiss all of the plaintiff Hu's claims. Hu entered into an oral agreement with Zhou, Li, and Peng, under which Hu would fund the purchase of "mining" equipment. A technology company (of which Zhou was a shareholder) would handle the procurement, installation, and hosting services. Hu would pay the company a monthly hosting fee of 10% of the profits. Hu paid a total of 555,082 yuan (including 55,000 USD paid via a cryptocurrency app, equivalent to 357,082 yuan, and 198,000 yuan transferred via bank transfer) to purchase the equipment. In November 2023, the equipment's hard drive was lost. In 2024, Hu sued the four defendants, including Zhou, for the lost equipment, demanding the return of his 570,000 yuan investment. The court held that, according to the "Notice on Further Preventing and Handling Risks of Virtual Currency Trading and Speculation" (Yinfa [2021] No. 237) jointly issued by the People's Bank of China and ten other departments, virtual currency-related business activities constitute illegal financial activities. In this case, Hu entrusted the purchase of equipment for "mining," and used virtual currency to pay for and settle management fees, thereby damaging the status of legal tender and violating public order and good morals. Therefore, the court ruled that the entrustment contract involved in this case was invalid. Regarding the claim for losses, the court held that the delivery of virtual currency is not enforceable and cannot be discounted; furthermore, the plaintiff failed to provide evidence to prove the original number of hard drives, the number of lost drives, and the actual losses, and should bear the adverse consequences of failing to provide evidence. The court ultimately dismissed all of Hu's claims, and his losses shall be borne by himself.